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THE FOLLOWING EVENTS TOOK PLACE ON FEBRUARY 20

1962--John Glenn is the first American to orbit the Earth.

1962--The Beatles perform at Floral Hall, Southport, Lancashire. The evening is billed as a "Rock 'n' Trad Spectacular." Four other groups besides The Beatles perform, including Gerry and the Pacemakers and Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, with the "trad" portion being provided by The Chris Hamilton Jazzmen.
1962--Brian Epstein writes to Bert Kaempfert in Hamburg, requesting that he release The Beatles from their recording contract of May 1961. Kaempfert agrees in his letter dated March 3, 1962, requesting only that The Beatles record for Polydor during their 7-week engagement in Hamburg set to begin on April 13.

1963--The Beatles perform two songs on the live BBC radio program "Parade of the Pops," a lunchtime radio show. They perform Love Me Do and Please Please Me. The Beatles had driven down from Liverpool during the night to London's Playhouse Theatre for this live radio appearance, which lasts about 4 minutes, 10 seconds. Then they face a long 160-mile trip back north, heading towards Yorkshire for their performance that night in Doncaster.

1963--The Beatles shoot the cover for their album Please Please Me with Angus McBean.

1965--The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, EMI Studios, London). Recording That Means a Lot. Two takes are recorded, but the song doesn't turn out well. The Beatles would try again on March 30, but it just didn't work out and the song was shelved. It was a pretty rare occurrence for The Beatles to give up on a song, so it is interesting that they did so twice within a period of three days, March 18-20, 1965, with the songs If You've Got Trouble and That Means a Lot.That Means a Lot was released on The Beatles Anthology 2 (Disc one, Track 6).

1967--The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Three, EMI Studios, London). John Lennon had wanted to find an authentic hand-operated steam organ for Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite, but none was available. George Martin and Geoff Emerick take a tape of a calliope playing old Sousa marches, cut it into small sections, throw them into the air, and then reassemble them in random order. The effects are completed, but are not yet overdubbed onto the Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite tape-in-progress.

1970--US release of the John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band single Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) / Who Has Seen the Wind (Apple). The flip side is a Yoko Ono song. 13 weeks on Billboard chart; highest position #3.

1974--John Lennon and May Pang return to Los Angeles (they had been in New York to make a brief visit to Yoko Ono on her birthday). They attempt to call Phil Spector to resume the recording sessions for the Rock n Roll album, but are told that Phil has suffered injuries in a car accident and is convalescing.

1974--Cher files for separation from her husband and singing partner, Sonny Bono. They had been married for 10 years.

1975--In a New York court, Judge Griesa orders that the illegal Lennon Roots LP should be withdrawn from sale, pending final legal judgement. In fact, Capitol Records had already pressured TV stations not to take ads for the unofficial album.

1976--In New York, John Lennons case against Morris Levy concludes with the judge ruling in favor of the former Beatle. John is awarded $144,700 in damages.

1981--Yoko Ono releases the single Walking On This Ice in the UK. This was the track John Lennon had been working on the night he died. The B side, It Happened, originally recorded back in 1973, during the sessions for Feeling The Space, opens with dialogue between John and Yoko recorded on November 26, 1980, during the Central Park filming of the ABC news program "20/20. (The same dialogue was later used in the Woman promotional film clip.) The same day, from her Dakota apartment, Yoko gives her first interview since Johns death, to Chrissy Smith, a BBC New York producer. A part of this interview is aired exclusively on the BBC Radio 4 program The World This Weekend, on Sunday, February 22.

1989--UK release of the Traveling Wilburys single End of the Line / Congratulations (Wilbury / Warner Brothers). A three-inch CD single and a 12-inch vinyl single were also released (containing an extended version of End of the Line).

1992--Texas billionaire, Ross Perot, appears on CNNs "Larry King Live," and says he will run for President of the United States if his name is placed on the ballot in all 50 states. (It was, and a surprisingly large number of Americans cast their vote for the diminutive Southerner.)